Sadly the show (Idol, that is) was a bore. Anyway I'll post my interview with Marky in the next few days. Now for a trip farther back in time...
On Easter afternoon my mother and I went to Lincoln's Cottage down in D.C. I'd taken both my parents to this little-known gem about 7 years ago, before it was spruced up and opened to the public. And a gem it is.
The Gothic Revival home, on the grounds of what was formerly known as the Soldiers' Home (initially for poor, displaced German and Irish veterans of the Mexican-American and Civil Wars) is where Lincoln spent a total of thirteen months, a full quarter of his presidency. For our greatest president it was an escape from the office seekers that would line up for him daily -- and other time-sucking trivial obligations that came with his office. (I need a cottage to escape email.) Plus, sitting at the third-highest spot in Washington, it was a respite from the heat.
It was here that Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation.
Readers of this blog know that my three favorite people are Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Loretta Lynn. (I also love Pope John Paul II, Billie Jean King and educator Marva Collins. The 1981 TV movie based on Collins' life in the Chicago Public School system moved me deeply.) Well seventh place belongs not to an individual, but to a whole class of people: Docents.
I love docents. Trained museum (also walking tour) guides are wonderful people who've certainly enriched my life. In these uncertain times, we're all grasping for connection with our national past. We want to know what it means to be American. Time (and population growth) is working against us in certain respects: Soon we will no longer be the world's economic superpower. Not long afterward we will lose our distinction as the world's unrivaled military power. If we're not the moral superpower, the beacon of freedom for the rest of the world, well then we might as well be The Netherlands. Just some upscale-ish, medium-sized country with a manageable underclass and a bunch of fancy shops.
Luckily docents are committed to guiding us through our past and reminding us of what our forebears did for us and the world. Docents are interpreters (often their preferred title).
Our docent today was the incomparable Shira L. Gladstone. My blackberry camera photos from the day are frustratingly blurry so I'll do my best to describe the scene. Shira's look was updated Lisa Loeb: sexy glasses with neat medium length brown hair. (Overall she had a very healthy sheen.) Her camel-colored toggle coat was a perfect fit over her ecru turtleneck. A student at GWU, Shira could have gone the slovenly route, using her Foggy Bottom late nights as an excuse to look like crap. Instead she gave us all the sense that she respected us and, more importantly, Lincoln. (Come to think of it, she was more Diana Prince than Lisa Loeb.)
She approached the subject matter with energy and appropriate earnestness. A couple more interesting points from the tour:
- The cottage, three miles from the White House, was a thirty minute drive by carriage. The route was rural back then, and the drive was extremely dangerous, what with so many people trying to knock off Abe. (A shot even penetrated his stovepipe hat on one ride.)
- Washington was ringed with forts throughout the war. At Fort Stevens, only a mile and a half from the cottage, Lincoln came under fire - the only president in our history to come under fire during wartime.
It was a memorable and moving visit, thanks largely to Shira. (The reason I've never forgiven Bill Richardson is that years ago I wrote him a letter commending the docent from Santa Fe's Palace of Governors/New Mexico History Museum. But I never received any acknowledgment from his office for my letter.)
Do you like docents, too? Have you had any great docent experiences lately?
My mother standing in front of the Gothic Revival Lincoln Cottage.
Shira with our group inside the cottage. (I don't know what that man is looking at.)
Most of what's in the cottage is a reproduction or period piece, rather than original Lincoln artifact. But the banister is original. Lincoln touched this!
Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 4)
31. Outside of Sarasota, NY is the Ulysses S. Grant
cottage, where he spent the last few months of his
life. Our guide was excellent and told us about how
feverishly Grant worked to finish his memoirs so
his wife & children had some kind of financial secu-
rity. The owner of the cottage, who donated it to
the Grants, had a hotel and a kind of railway that
ran from the Hotel higher up, was determined to make
money on this arrangement and would send customers
down to look at Grant sitting on his porch. Now
you need to know that Grant was dying from cancer
of the throat during this period and could not sleep
in a bed because he was afraid of swallowing his
tongue, so he slept upright in two chairs pushed
together. Another odd thing is the remains, which
almost look preserved, of the actual memorial wreaths sent by admirers still standing in the
parlor after his death there! The guide was very
affecting and it is a tribute to the man who wrote
on the porch w. his throat wrapped in wool that hius
memoirs have been highly praised over the decades
since his death.
Anne Lange at 5:50PM on Mar 29th 2008
32. i beg a question~
what will be, after texas tea?
Hi-C
or
Bosco....
politics are boring:
let us drink, for tomorrow we shall sigh....
pms: what's a docent?
mimi at 6:59PM on Mar 29th 2008
33. Mimi,
What does the cute little Pillsbury Chef spend on a gumball?
The Little Girl at 7:09PM on Mar 29th 2008
34. Loretta Lynn?
Jan at 10:15PM on Mar 29th 2008
35. Right after reading this I got Smithsonian magazine in the mail and there was the Lincoln cottage! you are just on the cutting edge. Well, if Smithsonian magazine can be considered the cutting edge.
~Shannon
Shannon at 11:02PM on Mar 29th 2008
36. I really liked your review, and your love of history and what it means to our contry. There are so many of of citizens (as you have seen here) that not only think history is boring, but are oblivious to what made our country great or gives us our freedom to be "stupid" in the first place. I will always remember the wonderful docent who gave me the gift of hands-on history at Jamestown at age 5. Every vacation I have taken since has envolved a historical tour. I only wish I could gwt my kids to love history as much as I love it.
So bravo for what you have given to the cause!!
chuck at 11:51PM on Mar 29th 2008
37. Hey there.
What a GREAT write-up on the Cottage. I had a chance to visit the first week it was open and I too enjoyed the docent's tour. It's a gem of a place.
Interestingly enough, I took the tour with a friend who provided me with a memorable docent-experience as she runs some really great walking tours around the city. A Walt Whitman tour in downtown DC and the really interesting walking tour of Harlem Renaissance in DC (you *do* know it all started a decade before in DC before it went up to Harlem?....Ellington, Langston Hughes, Zora, etcetera). Anyway, Kim Roberts (www.kimroberts.org) leads these tours and they're not to be missed. She's doing a tour of 1930's Dupont Circle homes of the scandalous.
Wondermachine at 12:03AM on Mar 30th 2008
38.
Gifted girl,
I love it when you have too much sugar-
the crafty song is now stuck in my head.
Shannon,
the cutting edge of Smithsonian magazine can get infected if you aren't careful...
Andrea at 12:16AM on Mar 30th 2008
39.
Looking for a vacation destination that is both fun AND educational?
Visit the Docent Museum on the grounds of the newly renovated World's Second Largest Ball of Twine.
The master craftsmen who brought you The Hall of Presidents and the giant rat at Chuck E. Cheese have collaborated to bring to life Docents both famous and non.
SEE- Life sized Replicas of Docents dating back to 1972!
Includes accurate 1/8 dioramas of historical docent battles including "Shira battles Lincoln Lover attempting to slide down the banister-again"
HEAR- Authentic recordings of timeless Docent explanations including "The Bathrooms are located down the hall and to the right", "Please don't touch that" and "It really isn't possible to be a direct descendent of Elizabeth I"
FEEL- Our "petting zoo" is a favorite among kids of all ages. Feel the different grades of paper used in educational handouts throughout the ages. From rough flimsy newsprint to glossy acid free full color!
SMELL and TASTE- are two more senses!
As a special treat, the Docent Museum is pleased to announce LIVE and IN PERSON Miss Neilia Soderberg. Docent afficionados know her as the first person to suggest, "Hey, why don't we have people exit through the gift shop?"
She will be signing copies of her memoir "Step this way please" every Wednesday from 2-5pm during the month of June.
The Docent Museum- It still beats Epcot!
Self-guided tours not allowed
Andrea at 12:18AM on Mar 30th 2008
40. Docents do rule! And for very little monies.
But a mean or insensitive docent can impart a sour note. There was a mean old lady at Log Cabin Village in Ft. Worth who harshed our fun history buzz because we stepped too close to something--used the wrong entrance/exit.
And during a Dallas Old City Park tour, the docent, after showing the slavery days plantation house, cheerily stated that the owners were to enjoy slavery days for only few years before the Civil War. And this after she had described that the slave owners required the house slaves to whistle while they served food to prove that they were not sneakily eating food. Yeah, we really identify with folk that "enjoyed slavery."
Blayze, Dakota/Rosemary's baby, Lennon murder; what's up with that? Beautiful old architecture plus gloomy urban folklore (and some gloomy reality) equals intrigue. A great tour of NY would let us glimpse the Dakota.
tcambell at 4:11AM on Mar 30th 2008
41. Aw Mo,
Kramer: They stole my idear Jerry, they stole my idear!
Jerry: And which “idear” might we be talking about here, Kramer?
Kramer: The Docent Museum Jerry, THE DOCENT MUSEUM!
Jerry: Oh, that “idear.”
Kramer: What am I gonna do Jerry?
Jerry: Well, why don’t you call Larry David?
Kramer: (mockingly) “Why don’t you call Larry David?” Hey wait, that might just
Work Jerry, that might just work. Mind if I use your phone? Who’s Crafty?
(bass guitar flourish)
T-shirt:
“My parents took me to the Docent Museum and all I got was:
Accompanied by an adult
No food or drink
Do not touch the exhibits
Raise your hand if you have a question
Enjoy your visit
Ask about our group discount.”
JG^^
John Giza at 6:15AM on Mar 30th 2008
42. The banister! My best friend went to Knox College, the location of the fifth Lincoln/Douglas debate. I sat in Lincoln's chair, and felt a rush of pride. However, there was no docent.
Angela at 12:00PM on Mar 30th 2008
43.
i was snickering last night...i let my son watch a new episode of SpongeBob last night-how timely!
-in it, SpongeBob "out docented" the actual docent!(in this case played by Mrs. Puff) at The Boating Museum and he took over the tour...I wonder how often this happens...and if there is a secret technique for handling such pesky fonts of knowledge? Trap door? Tranquilizer dart? Telling the guest that they have a haunting resemblance to the celebrated former occupant?
Docents! Share!
ah,Clem at 1:37PM on Mar 30th 2008
44. Mo outdocented the docent at the Teddy Roosevelt house, remember? His genius brain reeling off TR trivia and factoids at an alarming pace...
I hope the cutest docent Jackie is resting! And her Mo loving Mom too!
Gabrielle at 2:21PM on Mar 30th 2008
45. Oh mo,
Yes , I have a great docent story of a fine older gentleman in Las Vegas. This gentleman at that time escorted me to my seat and handed me the fine silky soft texture that would be pleasing after my visit. Then as I arose he gave me a towel and a light for my lucky stike all in one motion. I picked up a lovely mint gave myself a splash of old spice and layed a compensational quarter in his lovely glass....
Timo at 2:37PM on Mar 30th 2008